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Everyone adjusts to the end of the actual Camino pilgrimage differently. It depends on the individual's mind set, level of faith, and motivation in doing the Camino. I have seen tears, jubilation & laughter, exhaustion, trepidation, anger, depression, wild exuberation; the complete range of human emotion. Some of this is due to the actual experience and "to the core" affect of the Camino. Some of it is also the sober realization that you will likely not see many of the members of the "Camino family" you established and were nurtured by on your month-long pilgrimage again.
But, in general terms, some sadness or ennui is normal. Elation and a desire to do it again, like NOW, is also a commonly-seen behavior. I am glad your son has several mates he can share the experience with.
Regardless, your son went away a child and will come back more mature and thoughtful because of this experience. I hope you can support the "new" son...although somehow, I know you will.
Expect him to regale you with Camino stories and anecdotes for some months to come. There will be times when you wish he would shut it already. However, I beg you to continue to listen attentively. It is important to his readjustment process. I hope some of his friends are near enough to talk to regularly, that will also help. He experienced the adventure of his to-date relatively brief lifetime. He will want to share it with others.
In fact, if you have a local library, church, or other community group that might be interested in a presentation about the Camino, perhaps your son might be interested in taking all the photos he captured and developing such a talk. If nothing else, he will have the best account of "how I spent my summer" if asked to recount same in class.
I hope this helps,
Tom
Most excellent post sir.
Tom the presentation idea is really good and I can imagine his high school would be very receptive. He attended a Catholic school and so did one of his friends he walked with so the faith part of the journey was important to them. I will definitely listen to him talk about it and in fact I may grill him a little too much as I am so interested in what he did. Thanks for your helpful advice.
Well said. Buen Camino.Everyone adjusts to the end of the actual Camino pilgrimage differently. It depends on the individual's mind set, level of faith, and motivation in doing the Camino. I have seen tears, jubilation & laughter, exhaustion, trepidation, anger, depression, wild exuberation; the complete range of human emotion. Some of this is due to the actual experience and "to the core" affect of the Camino. Some of it is also the sober realization that you will likely not see many of the members of the "Camino family" you established and were nurtured by on your month-long pilgrimage again.
But, in general terms, some sadness or ennui is normal. Elation and a desire to do it again, like NOW, is also a commonly-seen behavior. I am glad your son has several mates he can share the experience with.
Regardless, your son went away a child and will come back more mature and thoughtful because of this experience. I hope you can support the "new" son...although somehow, I know you will.
Expect him to regale you with Camino stories and anecdotes for some months to come. There will be times when you wish he would shut it already. However, I beg you to continue to listen attentively. It is important to his readjustment process. I hope some of his friends are near enough to talk to regularly, that will also help. He experienced the adventure of his to-date relatively brief lifetime. He will want to share it with others.
In fact, if you have a local library, church, or other community group that might be interested in a presentation about the Camino, perhaps your son might be interested in taking all the photos he captured and developing such a talk. If nothing else, he will have the best account of "how I spent my summer" if asked to recount same in class.
I hope this helps,
Tom
Everyone adjusts to the end of the actual Camino pilgrimage differently. It depends on the individual's mind set, level of faith, and motivation in doing the Camino. I have seen tears, jubilation & laughter, exhaustion, trepidation, anger, depression, wild exuberation; the complete range of human emotion. Some of this is due to the actual experience and "to the core" affect of the Camino. Some of it is also the sober realization that you will likely not see many of the members of the "Camino family" you established and were nurtured by on your month-long pilgrimage again.
But, in general terms, some sadness or ennui is normal. Elation and a desire to do it again, like NOW, is also a commonly-seen behavior. I am glad your son has several mates he can share the experience with.
Regardless, your son went away a child and will come back more mature and thoughtful because of this experience. I hope you can support the "new" son...although somehow, I know you will.
Expect him to regale you with Camino stories and anecdotes for some months to come. There will be times when you wish he would shut it already. However, I beg you to continue to listen attentively. It is important to his readjustment process. I hope some of his friends are near enough to talk to regularly, that will also help. He experienced the adventure of his to-date relatively brief lifetime. He will want to share it with others.
In fact, if you have a local library, church, or other community group that might be interested in a presentation about the Camino, perhaps your son might be interested in taking all the photos he captured and developing such a talk. If nothing else, he will have the best account of "how I spent my summer" if asked to recount same in class.
I hope this helps,
Tom
Steven asked if you've thought of going yourself? I'm going to do this, you should too xxJack and his four friends arrived in Santiago de Compostela today!
They went to the Pilgrim Mass and saw the botafumerio swing, had their photo taken outside and are now going to take some time to process, reflect and rest.
To all of you on your Camino - six week ago I wrote to this forum all worried because my son is 19 and last year he was in high school doing math and writing essays. I am in Australia - he is in Spain now and has just completed 35 extraordinary days that will change his life. So many kind people on here wisely reassured me as I was worried he would be in danger, get lost or something bad would happen to him.
So thanks everyone who watched out for Jack, helped me, read my posts and offered words of comfort.
May you all receive abundant blessings in your life. You have my heartfelt gratitude.
I wish I had walked the camino at the age of 19. Wonder what changes it might have made in my life. Instead I walked at 60 after retiring.
Fantastic news....it's a wonderful journey...Jack and his four friends arrived in Santiago de Compostela today!
They went to the Pilgrim Mass and saw the botafumerio swing, had their photo taken outside and are now going to take some time to process, reflect and rest.
To all of you on your Camino - six week ago I wrote to this forum all worried because my son is 19 and last year he was in high school doing math and writing essays. I am in Australia - he is in Spain now and has just completed 35 extraordinary days that will change his life. So many kind people on here wisely reassured me as I was worried he would be in danger, get lost or something bad would happen to him.
So thanks everyone who watched out for Jack, helped me, read my posts and offered words of comfort.
May you all receive abundant blessings in your life. You have my heartfelt gratitude.
OK Kate - stop dreaming and start the planning. Best of luck!Hi Saint Mike - if only I could. I have no LSL accrued and work on a contract basis but I do dream of the Camino Frances - and I would definitely start in Saint Jean - I don't want to miss those Pyrenees.
I walked my first Camino in 2014 for my 60th and also celebrated in the cathedral with the botafumeiro! I walked alone and with coeliac disease but wouldn't change the experience for the world. It changed my life profoundly.I walked my first Camino in 2013, celebrating my 60th birthday in the Cathedral at the noon Pilgrim Mass, complete with Botafumeiro...nice touch. I thought of it as celebrating the first-half of my life and starting the second-half of my life with blessings from above. All in all, rather poetic, or so I thought at the time. I am trying to be and remain optimistic.
So, where is it written that you cannot experience the joys of youth at a more mature age? In fact, with all the accumulated experience, skills, and knowledge I accumulated over six decades, I rather think I got far more out of my three Caminos since 2013 than I might have done at a younger age.
Sure, I have medical issues and chronic illnesses that compel me to tote special diet foods and about a kilo of medications, in addition to my customary rucksack load. All in, it is a three-kilo penalty for a month-long Camino. So, the proverbial 10Kg limit means a 13Kg load for me.
Keeping those weight issues in mind, I recently learned while doing the Portuguese Route from Porto that, given the choice between food and medicine, or clothing, I am now choosing to "go commando" and pare my clothing load to the minimum consistent with decorum. The Camino is not a fashion parade. As long as I do not attract flies, I figure I am okay...If you do not want to see all of me (yuk!) don't look...actually, I would NEVER go that minimal, but you get the idea...
Plus, 80 is evidently the new 60, or so I have seen it written and spoken of recently. So, there should be enough time to plan a reprise Camino.
Or, put still another way, youth is wasted on the young... Retirement rocks! See you on the Camino!
I hope this helps...
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